A woman from East Yorkshire turned her Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge from a fun event into a fundraiser after losing her mum only weeks before the trek.
Rebecca Harding and her husband Rob completed the task with friends Kate and Rob Lambert and have so far raised over £2,300 with the hope that the donations will keep coming in.
The money will go to the Daily Appeal in memory of Rebecca’s mum Julie Megson, who was diagnosed with cancer for a second time in 2017 and died in September this year from issues arising from her illness.
The effort was Rebecca’s third fundraiser for the Daisy Appeal, which works to improve accuracy and detection rates for people with cancer, heart disease and dementia in Hull, East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire.
She said: “We did the Three Peaks about a decade ago after mum’s first diagnosis, then after mum got her second diagnosis we had a fundraising night for nearly 100 guests at the Triton Inn and generated over £3,600.
“The latest challenge was supposed to be just for fun – if you can describe the Three Peaks as that – but it became a fundraiser in memory of my mum. We toasted her at the top of each mountain.”
Rebecca said the weather was bad as they tackled Pen-y-Ghent and Whernside and it worsened as they reached Ingleborough, but they were inspired by memories of Julie and by the generosity of family, friends and colleagues.
She said: “We knew it was going to be harder than usual because of the sad circumstances, and on the day the weather certainly wasn’t on our side!
“We were met by heavy rain which was horizontal at times. We were soaked to the skin and the ground was very boggy but we completed it in 11 hours and 48 minutes.
“There was no way we were going to give up. Mum really was the most inspirational and courageous woman I have ever met and I feel so blessed that I got to call her my own mum. I have never seen a fight so fierce as hers, with a smile that never left her beautiful face.
“I’m so grateful to my fellow hikers and everybody who supported us and now I’m thinking about what to do next. Having done three events for the Daisy Appeal I would definitely like to do more but there is a question about how much you can ask people to donate so I won’t be rushing into anything.”
Claire Levy, Fundraiser for the Daisy Appeal, said: “We were so sorry to hear about Julie, especially after Rebecca’s fundraising efforts over the years and the kindness of everybody who has supported her.
“Her latest effort has been the most challenging of all and we’re just thankful that in such difficult circumstances Rebecca was again inspired to raise money for the Daisy Appeal and help us to help others.”
Since its foundation in 2002 the Daisy Appeal has raised more than £22m. TheDaisy Appeal Medical Research Centre opened on the Castle Hill Hospital site in 2008 and was followed, in 2014, by the opening of the Jack Brignall PET-CT Scanning Centre, housing the first in a new type of Siemens scanner in the country.
The latest project is a Molecular Imaging Research Centre (MIRC) which has been built at a cost of £8.8m and is due for completion later this year.
To find out more about the Daisy Appeal, visit https://daisyappeal.org
To support Rebecca’s campaign, visit https://bit.ly/3S4uz9v